Senior Trip to Drury Headquarters Inspires Students

Posted: Thursday, March 23rd 2017 at 3:19 PM

The nine seniors who traveled to Drury Headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri along with Dr. Wanda Costen, SHRM executive director, returned with plenty of stories to tell. The trip took place February 23 to February 26, 2017. The students able to go on this eye-opening experience were: Huan Yu, Keith Williams, Lucas Crooks, Brett Zornes, Priscila Salinas-Olivas, Stephanie Fabinski, Aggy Dang, Caleb Shroyer, and Haley Shaw.

They enjoyed dinner with the Drury recruitment team, spent an entire day engaging with senior leaders from the Corporate Office, and visited separate locations to see the variety of brands that Drury operates. The group even had the honor of meeting Mr. Chuck Drury himself.

For the bulk of the trip, students were given the opportunity to ask questions and explore the breadth of the Drury brand.

“Being able to have honest and genuine conversation with professionals in the industry was enlightening,” said SHRM student, Priscila Salinas.

Another student, Huan Yu, had the opportunity to ask Mr. Drury how to earn respect from employees. The CEO responded, "When you're doing work with them together, they will treat you like a normal person, not a CEO. At that time, your employees will come to communicate with you and build respect from that." The students found insight in his response.

“From his answer,” said Yu, “we can feel that he is a great leader and full of knowledge, but he still keeps humble and is humorous.”

The students raved about the passion for the company they felt from the executives they met.

“All of the people were very open-minded and have incredible passion for hospitality industry,” stated Yu.

The senior trip overall was an eye-opening experience that assisted students with their understanding of their careers with hospitality.

“The three day weekend spent in Missouri with Drury Hotels has left me motivated and inspired,” explained Salinas. “Ultimately, it was an opportunity to fall even more in love with SHRM.”